Will Emery, the 17-year-old son of a banker, is the first openly gay elected student head of a top British school, according to UK media, and was voted in by more than 1,000 pupils and staff at Brighton College.
The Daily Mail reports:
Headmaster Richard Cairns said there was a huge round of applause when the announcement was made and said teenagers between the ages of 13 and 18 see sexuality as a 'so-what' issue.
He added: 'He was a very popular choice – the rugby players voted for him along with many others – but I bet if I wrote to the old boys and said our head boy was openly gay, some of them would think it's very strange indeed.'
Mr Emery has used his new position to speak critically of schools that use policies that stopteachers from discussing homosexuality. Gay rights campaigners have highlighted 40 schools that use sex education policies that forbid 'promoting' homosexuality, similar to the controversial section 28 of the Local Government Act implemented by Thatcher's government.
